


The Last of the Wild

by zia2345



Category: The Last of Us (Video Games), The Legend of Zelda & Related Fandoms, The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild
Genre: Action, Adventure, Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - The Last of Us (Video Games) Setting, Eventual Romance, F/M, Link is Joel, Morals, Slow Burn, Zelda is Ellie, no spoilers for tlou2
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-09-27
Updated: 2020-12-12
Packaged: 2021-03-07 21:14:57
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 8
Words: 17,171
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26684263
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/zia2345/pseuds/zia2345
Summary: It had been twenty years since the world had gone to shit. Twenty years since the infection had started.The world was overrun by people who had turned into flesh-eating beasts. The infection, called Cordyceps, caused people to begin mutating, becoming….monsters. Those who weren’t immediately eaten flocked to quarantine zones, government run zones.Link was a smuggler, and his latest job has left him escorting a woman a few years younger than him.This fic requires no knowledge of The Last of Us. There is some divergence from TLOU canon to make things fit better, but overall, its mostly a character insert because I wanted to know how Link and Zelda would react in this world :)
Relationships: Link & Mipha (Legend of Zelda), Link & Revali (Legend of Zelda), Link/Zelda (Legend of Zelda)
Comments: 19
Kudos: 36





	1. Quarantine Zone

**Author's Note:**

> This story will not touch any content matter for TLOU2, so this is a spoiler free zone :)

“Link…wake up…” 

Link slowly opened his eyes. The afternoon sun burned his eyes. As he sat up, an empty glass bottle rolled off his chest. He was on a couch. 

_ Fuck, _ he thought, rubbing the sleep out of his eyes. He looked at the noise that woke him up. It was Mipha, his partner in crime. 

Literally. 

It had been twenty years since the world had gone to shit. Twenty years since the infection had started. 

The world was overrun by people who had turned into flesh-eating beasts. The infection, called Cordyceps, caused people to begin mutating, becoming….monsters. Those who weren’t immediately eaten flocked to quarantine zones, government run zones. Link was one of those people, somewhat. 

His role was to get things in and out of the city. The government had a tight grip on the zone, and people were unable to get certain things, like weapons or medicines. He would get those things, and sell them for rations tickets. It was a somewhat simple process. It was easy and clean. 

“I found our guns,” Mipha smirked. She moved over to the table and grabbed two scotch glasses and poured some scotch into them. Link stood and grabbed one of the glasses. Her red hair was put in a messy bun. Her faded leather jacket was covered in mud. 

“Oh really?” Link took a sip. “And which unlucky bastard has them?” 

“That dumbass, Beedle. He swiped them, just like I thought.” 

“No shit?” Link rolled his eyes. Those guns were their ticket to riches beyond belief. They would be set for at least the next five years. “Well, that’s great. Where is he?” 

“He’s hiding out in the slums outside the city, in that cargo warehouse,” Mipha downed the rest of her scotch. “Not for long, though. He’s stupid, but he’s smart enough to not stay put.” 

“Well then, what are we waiting for?” 

~~~~~~~~~~~~

Link and Mipha made their way out of his apartment. It was overcast, on the verge of raining. They walked in silence to the south checkpoint. On the way, Link watched as soldiers pulled a group out of a condemned building.

“Hands on your head!” The soldier shouted. The people obeyed. The man brought out a device. He held it over the first person. 

“They’re clear!” He shouted before moving on to the next one. He held it over the head of a young woman. A loud beeping was heard. “We got a live one!” 

“What?” The woman shrieked. “No, please, the scan is wrong! I’m not in-” 

Link didn’t have to see what had happened. The poor woman was dead, probably from one of the soldiers’ knives. He kept walking. Things like this were common in quarantine zones. You couldn’t concern yourselves with the lives of others.

“I just got new papers,” Mipha said, bringing Link out of his thoughts. They were approaching the south travel gate. A large black truck was driving through the gates. It was most likely carrying rations. “They should let us through, no problem.” 

She handed Link a paper before walking up to the guard. 

“What’s your business?” He asked. 

“It’s our day off. We’re gonna go visit a friend.” Link said, handing him the papers. The guard looked at them real quick and handed them back. He stepped out of the way.

“Alright, just-” A loud explosion was heard. The black truck was on fire. It wasn’t rations, it was a bomb. The guard threw the gates closed. “Sheikah!” 

“Shit!” Mipha cursed. “Let’s get out of here!” 

The pair took off running. Link heard gunfire behind them. The pair ducked into an alley and caught their breath. 

“Damnitt, now how do we get through?” Mipha sighed. 

“The tunnels?” Link suggested. Mipha curled her nose at the notion. “I know, I hate it too, but what option do we have?” 

“Fine.

~~~~~~

Link and Mipha were in an abandoned building. It looked like it was an old library. The old shelves were rotted and decayed. This area of the zone was off limits due to unstable infrastructure, but that was perfect for smugglers. There were holes in the building that led right to the outside. Link clicked his flashlight on as he crawled into a dark tunnel. As soon as he did, he cursed. 

“Fuck, spores.” He said to Mipha. He reached to his waist and put his gas mask on. The spores were floating versions of the infection. One breath in, and you were as good as dead. It was difficult to see in the gasmask, but it was better than any alternative. The spores came from dead infected, meaning there were probably more down here somewhere. 

The duo crawled through the tunnel systems. They were almost on the other side when he heard moaning sounds. He looked around, but didn’t see anything. It wasn’t until he rounded the corner when he saw the source. 

Runners. 

They were people who had recently turned. They usually stood in place, but once they saw you, they’d run at you in hordes. Luckily, they were fairly dumb. Link grabbed his knife, ready to dispose of the creatures. He snuck up on the one that was leaning over a body. Once he was close enough, he quickly slid the blade into its throat. It fell to the ground, gurgling. He put his knife away and motioned for Mipha to advance. 

“Nice one,” She whispered. Link nodded. They continued on.

They eventually surfaced. As soon as the air was clear, Mipha took her mask off and took a deep breath. 

“God, I hate that shit.” She whined. Link took his mask off and turned his flashlight off. 

“Better than the alternative,” he grumbled. 

“No shit,” She rolled her eyes. “Come on, let’s find Beedle.” 

~~~~~~

The two made their way to the slums. When Link approached, the guards at the gate stopped him. 

“What do you want here?” One asked. 

“Relax,” Mipha walked up behind him. “He’s with me.” 

“Oh, hey Mipha. You can pass.” The guards stepped aside. Link and Mipha entered the little village. It was a free-for-all. People were sleeping wherever they could, fighting over stupid shit, and gambling. 

“Is Beedle really here?” Link asked. “His slimy ass would get into one round of poker and get shot.” Mipha chuckled. 

“Hopefully he hasn’t gotten shot yet.” Link nodded, smirking. 

They kept walking when they came to the gates of the cargo facility. There were three men holding rifles. 

“What do you fuckers want?” One of the men shouted at them. 

“Chill, we just wanna get through.” Link called back.

“I got orders not to let anyone through.” 

“From who?” 

“Wouldn’t you like to know?” 

“Look, I don’t want any beef. Just let us pass and I can make it worth your while.” Mipha pulled out some ration cards. The guard looked at it, tempted. 

“Make it five, and you can pass.” Mipha smiled and handed the guard five cards. They stepped aside. Mipha opened the gates. Link quickly followed. They were in a shipping yard. 

“Let’s pray our guns are here,” Link mumbled. 

“They are. They have to be.” 

They were about to continue walking when they heard a female voice. 

“Alright,we’re done in here!” She shouted. There were some dull cheers as the men trailed out. The duo ducked behind a shipping crate. 

“We can sneak past ‘em,” Link said. “Save our ammo for the beetle.” Mipha smirked. 

Link listened closely, there were about four men standing guard around the boxes. He crouched down and slowly moved to the left. He ducked behind a box. He spotted a glass bottle on the floor. He picked it up and checked his surroundings. There were two men in his path to the other side of the room. He launched the bottle to the right. 

“Hey, you hear that?” One of the men asked. He began walking to the other side of the room. Once he was far enough away, Link snuck up behind the one that stayed. He wrapped his arms around his neck and pulled him down. He used his knife and plunged it into the man’s neck. He set him down and advanced. He watched as Mipha took the other man out in a similar manner. They rejoined at the exit. The next room had stairs leading up to an office. 

Link started heading up the stairs when a bullet whizzed past him. He quickly ducked behind the railing. 

“You fuckers!” He heard a familiar high-pitched voice. He grabbed his gun and peeked. He saw the brown hair of Beedle round a corner. 

“Fuck, he can’t get away!” Mipha growled. She darted after him, leaving Link to catch up. He chased after them. He heard a gunshot and a man scream as he rounded the corner. Beedle was on the ground, clutching his leg. 

“What’s good, Beedle?” Mipha smirked. She kicked Beedle in the stomach, forcing him to roll over. His brown eyes were full of fear. 

“M-Mipha!” Beedle laughed nervously. “I wasn’t expecting you-” 

“Cut the shit, where are the guns?” Link grabbed Beedle’s arm. 

“Guns? What guns? I don’t know- ahh!” A loud crunch was heard as Link stomped on his elbow. 

“Next place my boot goes is your face, now where are the guns?” 

“They-They’ll kill me! I can’t-” Another scream as Beedle’s arm was twisted. 

“Bold of you to assume I won’t” Mipha stepped on his gunshot wound. “Where are they?!?” 

“Ahh! The Sheikah!” Beedle cried out. “I sold them to the Sheikah!” 

“You realize those weren’t yours to sell, yeah?” Link growled. 

“I-I...Please! I can get them back, please!” Beedle continued to beg as Link and Mipha exchanged a look. Mipha pulled out her gun and placed a bullet between Beedle’s eyes, silencing the room. 

“Fucking Christ,” Link threw Beedle’s arm down. “The Sheikah?” 

The Sheikah were an organization hellbent on overthrowing the government. They would send in truck bombs, shoot guards, incite riots in quarantine zones, and do anything to destroy the government. Granted, the government wasn’t good, and they wanted to liberate people, but Link decided that the state of the world was already a lot to deal with without the added politics. 

“What do we even do?” Mipha leaned against a crate. 

“Those guns are as good as gone.” 

“Are they?” A woman said. Link turned around, gun raised. It was a woman who looked somewhat familiar. She was holding her stomach, a ring of blood around what he assumed was a gunshot wound. It was then he noticed the necklace she wore. An eye with three dots above it and a teardrop. 

“Holy fucking shit,” Mipha said, incredulous. “It’s the Queen Sheikah herself.” 

Link had met the woman, Impa, before. He had met her a long,  _ long  _ time ago. 

“Where’s Beedle?” Impa asked. Her face was almost grey from blood loss. Link stepped aside, nudging the dead body. “Shit, I needed him.  _ Alive. _ ” 

“What a coincidence to see you here. See, you have something of ours. Beedle gave you guns. Guns that weren’t his to give. Guns that were  _ ours.  _ We need them back.” 

“Well, it so happens I need a smuggler. Beedle was supposed to deliver something for me, but I suppose now that he’s unavailable….I’ll need a new arrangement.” 

“What do you need smuggled?” Link asked. 

“Small package, just to the Capitol Building. It’ll be an easy job. Do it, and I’ll double the amount of guns.” 

Mipha and Link looked at each other. It was a good fucking deal. That would be enough to set them for a long ass time. No more running in tunnels, no more shootouts, no more spores. 

“Show us the guns first,” Mipha spoke up. “Prove you got the guns and you got a deal.”

“Follow me.” 


	2. Outside

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm thinking my update schedule will be every other day or every two days for awhile, it will mostly depend on chapter length and how fast I can edit. I may seek out a beta reader if this gets big enough :3

The journey to Impa’s hideout wasn’t long distance wise, it was just long because Impa wasn’t exactly in condition to be moving around. Link was expecting her to keel over and die at any moment, but luckily, she didn’t. They made it to her hideout with little trouble.

“You have my word, once the cargo is delivered, you get your guns,” Impa had said. Link was more than excited. Impa was fumbling with the door. She used her body weight to open the door. Link watched as she stumbled inside. 

“Impa?” He heard a woman’s voice. A young woman with blonde hair rushed forward, throwing what looked to be a book on the ground. “You’re hurt!” 

“I’m fine,” Impa waved her help away. 

“Who are these people?” The woman looked at Link and Mipha. 

“They’re going to take you to the Capitol.” 

“What?” Everyone except Impa exclaimed. 

“You said it was cargo, not a person.” 

“You said you were going to take me!” 

“Zelda,” Impa looked at the blonde woman. “I don’t have much of a choice. I need to stay here. You need to go. Tonight.” 

“I can’t leave you! How do you know we can trust them?”

“I knew his brother, Revali. He said that if I was ever in a jam, I could rely on him.” 

Link turned to Mipha, annoyed. 

“We can’t go through with this.” 

“Think about the score. We won’t have to do another job for the next few years.” Link sighed. She was right, as always. It was worth it. They’d have to just suffer through it. 

“You’ll need to leave tonight. I have people waiting at the Capitol Building. They’ll know what to do.” Impa told the woman. The woman nodded. Impa looked at Mipha and Link. 

“Hold on,” Mipha interrupted. “We still haven’t seen the guns. Where are they?” 

“They’re on the other side of town. One of you guys need to stay with Zelda.”

“No! I can go with you!” 

“It’ll be easier to have you go with one of them to the north tunnel. Scope out the area and find a way out.”

“I’m not leaving you.” 

“Yes you are.” 

Link was about to tell Mipha that he would meet her at the north tunnel when she shot him a look. 

“I’m going to go see those weapons. I’ll meet you at the tunnel.” Link turned and looked at the girl like she had gone insane. 

“Mipha-” he tried to say, but she wasn’t having it. 

“You’ll be fine. Just take the backway to the north tunnel and you’ll be fine.” Link rolled his eyes and turned to Zelda. 

“Fine, let’s go,” Link turned to the blonde, Zelda is what Impa had called her. “Stay close behind.” 

~~~~~~~

Link and Zelda headed out the apartment. Link quickly checked for guard patrols before heading down the street. 

“You’re Link, right?” Zelda spoke up. Link turned to his left and got a good look at the girl. She was about half a foot shorter than him. She had blonde hair and green eyes, contrasting his blue. Her hair was long, touching her back. Somehow, it had remained unmatted. 

“Yeah, I’m Link.” He replied. Zelda adjusted her bag. 

“I’m Zelda, if you didn’t catch that.” Link rolled his eyes. 

“Yeah, I caught that,” He mumbled. Zelda looked at him, annoyed. 

“Excuse me for trying to make conversation,” she huffed. They continued to walk in silence. Link heard a truck moving in the distance. Guard patrols. He moved into a nearby alleyway.

“This way,” he said. Zelda quickly followed. They weaved through various alleys. 

“How do you know the city so well?” 

“I’m a smuggler,” Link shrugged. “It’s my job.” 

They came to an abandoned apartment building. He found a sewer gate on the floor and moved it. He motioned for Zelda to hop in. She hesitantly jumped in. Once he heard the splash of water below, he followed suit, closing the gate behind him. He flicked on his light. 

“Alright, the tunnels should be clear, but don’t do anything stupid.” Link ordered.

“I’ll be right behind you,” Zelda whispered back. 

The duo moved forwards. The tunnels were clear. No spores, and thankfully no Runners. They climbed out and landed in a room that used to be a lobby. Link covered the hold with some wood panels and a rug. 

“The hideout with the tunnel is upstairs. We should be good there.” Link looked at Zelda, who nodded. They began making their way up the stairs. 

“So, this tunnel, you use it to smuggle things?” Zelda asked. 

“Sometimes.” Link looked at her. She was walking side by side with him. 

“Illegal things?” Link hesitated before answering her. 

“Sometimes....” 

“Have you ever smuggled a person?” 

“Every day.” 

“Seriously?” Zelda looked at him, shocked. Link simply stopped walking and stared back. Zelda stopped and stared back at him before looking away, redness creeping across her face. “Oh, sarcasm.” 

Link rolled his eyes and continued walking. 

“So, what’s the deal with you and Impa?” Link asked. 

“What do you mean?” 

“One doesn’t simply befriend the leader of the Sheikah.” 

“True...She knew my mother, and took me in. I’ve been living with her ever since.”

“Are you a Sheikah?” 

“No. Impa never let me help. My mother made her swear.” 

“So you just tagged along for the ride?” 

“Look, if you’re trying to get me to tell you why you’re smuggling me, you might as well give up.” 

“See, that’s the beauty of smuggling. I don’t need to know, and frankly, I couldn’t give a flying fuck why you need to be smuggled.” 

“Glad we’re at an understanding.” 

They reached the top of the stairs and Link walked to the far end of the hall. He pushed a door open and walked inside. He threw his bag down and collapsed on a nearby couch. 

“What now?” Zelda asked. 

“We wait for nightfall. I’m taking a nap. I suggest you do the same.” Link closed his eyes. He heard footsteps pass by him. He slowly drifted off into sleep. 

~~~~~~~~~~~

Link woke with a start to the sound of thunder. He quickly oriented himself in the dark room. The events of earlier that day came rushing back to him. The “cargo” mission. He groaned as he sat up. Zelda was sitting in the corner, looking out a nearby window. It looked to be close to midnight. He got up and looked for his backpack. As he searched, he felt eyes on him. He tried his best to ignore Zelda’s gaze, but it was quite distracting. He found his bag on a nearby table. He grabbed it and looked inside. He made sure all his guns were loaded and ready for any firefights. He slung the bag around his shoulder. 

“You know, I’ve never been this close to the outside...” Zelda said. Link looked out the window. “It’s so dark.”

“It’s...different.” Link said. He looked at Zelda. He had so many questions. Why was this girl

“It can’t be much worse….” Link could barely hear her. “Can it?” 

“What on earth do the Sheikah want with you?” Zelda turned to look at him. “Seriously, a girl who’s never seen the outside, and probably doesn’t know the first thing about the infected is precious cargo to the leader of the Sheikah?” 

“I told you-” Zelda was interrupted by a quick knock at the door. The door opened to reveal Mipha. 

“Sorry it took so long. There were soldiers everywhere,” Mipha walked inside and closed the door behind her. “Look, I saw the goods. It’s a lot. More than she said. You still wanna do this?” Mipha asked. Link nodded. Zelda stood, grabbing her own bag. 

“Let’s go.” 

~~~~~

In the backroom of the apartment was a hole in the wall. They climbed inside and it led to a room with an elevator. Zelda and Mipha waited on the elevator while Link fired up the generator. Once it was powered on, Link stepped on the elevator as it began to descend. 

“Who’s waiting for us at the drop off?” Link asked Mipha as they descended. 

“Apparently there’s a whole crew of Sheikah waiting for us. They’re apparently from another city.” Mipha looked at Zelda. “So, what’s the deal with you? Are you the daughter of some bigwig?” 

“Something like that….” Zelda sighed.

“Look at that, we’re escorting the princess,” Link smirked. Mipha laughed with him. 

“I’m not a princess!” Zelda all but whined. 

“Alright, Princess.” Link laughed. Zelda’s face was red. 

The elevator came to a halt. Link walked off and followed the path. He had to duck as he made his way through a crawl space with the girls trailing behind him. Once he emerged, he spotted the ladder that led above the ground. 

“I’ll go up and check,” Link said. “I’ll tell you when it’s safe.” 

Link climbed up the ladder. He shifted the cardboard that covered the opening and peeked out. He quickly hid himself when he spotted two guards. They were far off. He would just wait until they walked out of sight. He watched as they waved their flashlights around, looking for any movement. After a minute, they moved on to the next area. Link moved the cardboard out of the way so he could surface. 

“We’re clear, let’s go,” Link called down. Zelda began climbing up the ladder, Mipha following suit. 

Once they were up, Link covered the exit. It was pouring rain. It would make it harder for guards to hear them, but also make it harder for them to hear guards. 

“Woah, I’m actually outside!” Zelda murmured, looking around. He assumed Zelda was born after the spread. Link was born before. He didn’t have many memories, but he had some of the good old days. 

They walked in the rain for a bit until they came to a block. The way forward was blocked by an old semi truck trailer. Link climbed inside. He walked through to the other side. As soon as his feet hit the ground, he felt something hit his head. 

“Put your hands up!” He heard a woman say.  _ Shit,  _ he thought.  _ Guards.  _

He held his hand up. He watched as Zelda and Mipha did the same. One of the guards pulled him up and all but dragged him onto his knees. Zelda was in the same position on his left, and Mipha was on his right. Their hands were behind their head. Link heard a beeping noise. He looked over and watched as Mipha was scanned for the virus. 

“Oh no,” Link heard Zelda whisper. He looked over. She looked pale. He heard a beeping behind his head as his scan came up clear. The guard moved on to Zelda. He pressed it against her neck. There was a different sounding beep. In a second, Zelda spun around and stabbed the man in the leg. The man with the scanner fell to the ground and grabbed his gun. Link pulled out his pistol and shot the man. Mipha quickly pulled out her gun and shot the soldiers behind her. Zelda pushed herself away from the dead body. 

“Holy crap,” she gasped. “I thought we were just gonna hold them hostage or something.” 

“Link, check this out,” Mipha was holding the scanner. She tossed it to him. Link looked at the screen. In red capital letters was the word “INFECTED.” 

“Holy shit,” Link looked at Zelda. “Impa set us up?” 

“I can explain!” Zelda cried out. “Please!” 

“You better start talking.” 

“Look!” Zelda rolled up her sleeve. It was a bite mark. 

“I don’t care how-” 

“Three weeks!” Zelda interrupted. “I was bit three  _ weeks _ ago.” 

“Not possible. Everyone turns within two days-” 

“I’m immune. That’s why the Sheikah want me.” 

“This is bullshit. Mipha-” Link was cut off by the sound of a truck. He looked over to see headlights. “Fuck, we need to go. Now!” 

Link took off running. Mipha grabbed Zelda’s arm and dragged her with. The trio jumped down into a ditch, avoiding the lights of the car. 

“We got two dead uniforms!” A guard shouted. 

“Shit. They gotta be around here somewhere.” Another guard said. 

“We need to hurry,” Mipha said. The three ran off, taking cover behind a destroyed tanker. They waited there until they heard the car drive off. They took off running. There were spotlights on the ground. 

“Zelda-” Mipha began. 

“Stay out of the light, I know.” 

They snuck through the guard patrols, somehow evading capture. 

“There’s so many of them, what the fuck?” Mipha grumbled. 

“I mean, they found some of their buddies dead, so…” Zelda reasoned. Link tried not to laugh. This whole situation was such bullshit. 

They eventually stopped hearing the noises of the military. The trio came across a hole in the ground, leading to a pipe. They could go through there. Link led the way. The tunnel came to a gate. Link pushed it open and walked through, Mipha and Zelda in tow. 

“Look, what was the plan once we delivered you to the Sheikah?” Mipha asked Zelda. 

“The Sheikah have a quarantine zone of their own, one with doctors looking for a cure. Whatever happened to me is apparently...the key to finding a cure.” 

“Sure it is,” Link grumbled and rolled his eyes. 

“That’s what she told me!” 

“I’m not saying she didn’t!” 

“Link,” Mipha interjected. “What if this is real?” 

“What?” Link scoffed. “There’s no way.” 

“We’ve already come this far. We might as well finish it.” 

“Do I need to remind you what is out there?” Link said, just loud enough for Mipha to hear. 

“Look, think of the score we have waiting for us when we get back,” Mipha argued. Link sighed. He wouldn’t be able to talk her out of this suicidal plan. When he didn’t respond, Mipha stormed off. 

“Come on. The building is this way.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading! <3


	3. Downtown

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> thank you guys so much for reading and leaving kudos! I really appreciate it! <3

Mipha was leading the way with Link trailing behind. Zelda was sandwiched between them. The journey was silent. Link was pissed off. They should be going home, not doing this suicide mission. 

While they walked, Link heard a loud roar in the distance. 

“What was that?” Zelda asked, turning to the noise.

“I don’t know, but it sounds far off. We should be fine.” Mipha put her hand on her waist where her gun sat. 

“For now…” Link muttered under his breath. 

They kept walking until they came to a huge cliff. It was a giant pit in the ground. 

“Oh goodness,” Zelda peered off the edge. “That’s a long ways down.” 

“We’ll need to find a way around.” Mipha said. Link started looking for a way around. 

“What happened here? Why is there just a crater?” Zelda asked. Link didn’t even attempt to answer. He knew his voice would fail him. 

“When the infection first hit, the military started bombing the areas around the quarantine zones to clear the infected….” Mipha’s voice was quiet. The bombings were a touchy subject. The goal officially was to clear the infected, but it ended up killing more innocent people than Runners. After that, the Sheikah came out of the darkness, hellbent on overthrowing the military. He and Mipha had talked about it during rainy nights after a bottle or two. Mipha was in her twenties when the bombings happened, while Link was only a kid. 

Link pushed those thoughts out of his head. It did no good to dwell on the past, especially when the present was so dangerous. He spotted a hole in a nearby building. 

“This way,” He called. Mipha and Zelda made their way over. He walked into the building. 

The entire building was tilted sideways, the foundation uneven. Link turned his flashlight on. It was an old office building. There were desks everywhere. He had vague memories of his father working in a building just like this. 

Link could hear a clicking noise in the distance. To an untrained ear, it would sound exactly like the creaking of the building, but past experiences let him know otherwise. 

“Keep an eye out for clickers,” He called back to the girls. 

“Clickers?” Zelda asked.

“Runners that have been infected for years. Nasty things. Their faces are covered in fungus, blinding them, so they click to get around.” Mipha answered her. 

“They use echolocation?” 

“Um...yeah. They do.” 

“How fascinating….” Zelda said, almost like a scientist observing a test subject. Link rolled his eyes. 

“They’re real fascinating until the fucker sneaks up behind you.” Link scoffed. Zelda laughed. 

Link opened the door to the hallway. He was greeted by a body that had been torn to shreds. His military gear did nothing to protect him from the teeth of runners. 

“Body’s fresh,” Link commented. “Keep your eyes open.” 

~~~~~~~

There was nowhere to go but up. The group climbed up the stairs. They came across a few dead bodies. It looked like a military group had tried to hold out for rescue, but the clickers found them first. 

The stairwell led to an office space. Link had his gun at the ready. The clicking noises were persisting. He came across a door. He tried to shove it open, but to no avail. 

“Mipha, come help me with this,” He beckoned her over. Mipha began pushing on the door with him. There was a loud screeching sound as the door flung open. Link and Mipha both stumbled through. 

“Link!” He heard Zelda shout. He turned around and was met face to face with a Clicker. Before he could react, hands were on his shoulders. He fell to the ground. He used all his strength to hold the creature off, adrenaline coursing through him. 

He heard a gunshot as the creature went limp. He pushed the beast off of him. He stood up, wiping the debris off his face. Mipha was standing there, holding her gun. 

“Thanks…” He was out of breath. 

“Are you okay?” Zelda asked him. 

“I’m fine.” He replied. 

“We need to be more careful,” Mipha put her gun away. “That could’ve ended badly.” 

“C’mon. Let’s get the hell outta here.” 

The group trekked onwards and upwards. Soon, the way forwards was blocked by debris. 

“Great, now what?” Zelda sighed. The way they came didn’t have any other paths. Mipha looked out a window. The scaffolding was still there. Mipha looked at Link. As soon as Link put two and two together, he groaned.

“You’re joking,” Link sighed. 

“Just don’t look down,” Mipha climbed out the window and stepped on the scaffolding. When it didn’t break, she kept moving. 

“You guys are insane,” Zelda mumbled, climbing onto the windowsill. Once she was out, Link followed. 

The rain hadn’t relented. It was cold and windy. The metal creaked under his feet. He prayed to whatever god that existed that it wouldn’t break. Maybe it was divine intervention, or maybe it was just sheer dumb luck, but he made it to the other side. He climbed back into the building. 

“I’m never doing that ever again,” Zelda said to herself. Link couldn’t help but smirk. 

“Come on, just a little while longer.” 

~~~~~~

“Do you hear that?” 

Link looked around. Zelda had stopped moving. He was about to ask what she meant when he heard moaning sounds. 

“Runners,” Mipha sighed. 

“Stay here, I’ll go up ahead and clear them out,” Link grabbed his knife out of his pocket. He rounded a corner and immediately crouched down. There was a clicker right ahead of him. He steeled his nerves and advanced. Once he was close enough, he slid the knife into the clickers throat. It began twitching before going limp. He withdrew his knife and moved on. 

He was prowling closer to a Runner when he spotted a metal crowbar on the ground. He picked it up, just in case things got bad. He sneaked up on the runner and wrapped his arms around its throat. The creature made some choking noises, but Link just wrapped harder. It eventually fell to the ground, dead. 

He continued this pattern of killing for the remaining infected. Once the room was clear, he put his knife away. 

“Alright, the coast is clear!” Link called out. He heard footsteps approaching. 

“Woah, Link,” Mipha whistled. “I’m impressed.” Link smirked. It was impressive.

“C’mon. Let’s get out of here.” 

~~~~~~~~~~~

They finally made their way out of the tower and back to the streets. 

“We made it!” Zelda smiled. The rain had stopped, which Link was thankful for. 

“Capitol Building’s in this direction,” Mipha pointed. “Let’s go.” 

They began walking down the street. Their path eventually came to a stop. A building had collapsed, blocking the way. Link looked around. There was a garage they could get into. Link walked over to the chain and pulled. It made a loud screeching sound. 

“Shh,” Zelda said. “Do you hear that?” 

Clicks. 

“Hurry!” Mipha shouted. He looked over his shoulder to see a horde of infected running towards them. Link pulled the chain faster. As soon as the door was high enough off the ground, Mipha and Zelda ducked under. He felt one grab his foot as he ducked under. As soon as he was on the other side, the door slammed down. The horde began screaming and banging on the door. Link quickly stood and rushed back, joining the others. 

“Hey, you got something on your foot,” Zelda said, looking down. Link looked at his right foot. A severed hand was attached to his shoe. He quickly shook it off and tried not to hurl. 

They left the garage through a nearby door. It looked like they were in the basement of some facility. Link heard Mipha and Zelda talking behind him. 

“So, how’d you get bit? You’ve never been outside, right?” Mipha asked. Zelda sighed. 

“I….I went to the mall,” She explained. 

“The mall? Only place more guarded is the military base, how’d you manage to get inside?” 

“I have my ways,” Zelda smirked, as if it was a fond memory. “I may not be a fighter, but I’m smart.” 

“Not smart enough to stay away from the mall, though,” Mipha laughed. Zelda joined her. 

“Curiosity killed the cat.” 

~~~~~

The building they were in turned out to be a museum. Link remembered going into museums when he was younger. They were boring as shit. Now, they were just creepy. Mannequins were strewn about the place, which Link hated. They just...stared. Link tried his best to ignore the watching plastic eyes. 

“Link, can you lift this bar with me?” Mipha asked. She pointed to where the ceiling had collapsed in front of them. A wooden bar was blocking the path. He nodded. Together, they lifted the bar. Zelda quickly slid under. Mipha followed suit. The building began to shake. Before Link could join them, more wood began to fall. He dropped the log he was holding and scooted back. 

“Link?” He heard Mipha shout. “Link?!” 

“I’m alive!” He called back. “I’ll wrap around and-” 

“Shit, they’re here! Zelda, run!” Link heard the screams of Runners. He cursed as he stood up. He needed to get to them. He was about to run when he heard clicks near him. He dropped to a crouch and froze. There was a Clicker right around the corner. He readied his knife. 

As soon as the Clicker was visible, Link slammed the knife into its head. It went still. Link dropped it and moved on. He heard a gunshot. Adrenaline filled him as he ran through the halls. He came to the room where the gun was fired. A Clicker was currently trying to bite into Mipha’s neck. Link pulled out his gun and quickly fired at the creature, taking it down. Mipha looked over. When she saw who it was, she sent a silent “thank you.”

“Where’s Zel-”Before Link could finish his sentence, he heard the cry of more Runners approaching. He readied his gun. 

A runner charged at him. He managed to get two shots in before swinging a punch at the creature. Remembering he grabbed it earlier, he grabbed the crowbar he found in the office building off his back. He used it to bash the heads of a few runners in. A clicker grabbed onto his shoulder. He felt it’s hot breath on his neck. He was sure he was done for when it suddenly went limp. He looked behind him to see Zelda holding a knife in the creature’s head. 

They shared a quick glance before Link turned back to the scene before him. A runner charged up on him. He pulled out his gun and placed a bullet between its eyes, causing it to immediately drop to the floor. 

“I think that’s all of them,” Mipha said. Link looked around. The room was empty. He took a deep breath. He turned around to Zelda. 

“You alright, Princess?” He asked. 

“Define alright?” She laughed, putting her knife away. Her blue eyes were laced with fear. 

“Do you have a pulse?” Zelda put her fingers on her wrist. 

“I don’t feel anything,” She sighed. Link chuckled. He looked over to Mipha, who was standing near a window. 

“Come on, we can get out this way,” She said. Mipha hopped out the window onto the balcony. Link let Zelda go before him. Once he was outside, he spotted Mipha climbing up a ladder, getting on top of the building, She was moving quickly. 

_ Maybe she’s finally realized how stupidly dangerous this whole thing was _ , Link thought. He quickly followed her. There was a small gap between the two buildings. Link spotted a plank they could use. He went over and picked it up. He placed the wooden plank across the gap. 

“Zelda, you go first. It’s not super sturdy, so be care-” Before he could finish, Zelda was crossing, waiving off all his concerns. He looked at her. Maybe he was wrong? He took her for a naïve girl, but she was starting to prove him wrong.

Once she was across, he climbed on the plank. Unlike Zelda, he took a moment to cross. He jumped down on the other side. Zelda was staring at the sunset. 

“Is it like you imagined, Princess?” Link asked, standing next to her. The sun was rising just over the capitol building. The sky was a beautiful mix of pinks and purples. 

“Jury’s still out,” Zelda said, not looking away. “But, man, that view….” 

Link was about to thank her for earlier when he heard Mipha behind them.

“Come on, we can’t waste anymore time,” She said, her voice curt. She pushed ahead of them and continued walking. Link and Zelda shared one last quick look before moving on. Zelda was moving down a ladder Mipha was standing in front of. 

“Look,” Mipha turned to him. She looked a little pale. Link could understand. He was exhausted as well. “We’re almost done. Stay focused.” 

“Yes ma’am.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Leave a comment telling me what you liked!!


	4. The Capitol

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Something SUPER cool!! The amazing Moon_Violin made fanart of my work!!! https://twitter.com/Animatedf1/status/1312673836089987072?s=20
> 
> Please check it out and leave a like! It's so good!! They are also working on translating my fic into Russian, the link will be dropping soon!!! <3

“It’s right around this corner, come on.” 

The trio had been walking for another hour when they finally got to the building. Link’s feet were starting to hurt, and he was ready for a break. The events of the night had been taxing. 

_ These better be the best goddamn guns… _

They dropped down from the rooftops into a small alley. Immediately, Link was met with a familiar smell. He followed his nose until he saw a corpse. It had a familiar tag on it’s arm. 

“Look,” He said. Mipha turned towards him. “Sheikah.” 

“There’s only one here,” Mipha turned away. “The rest must be in the capitol.” 

“Hopefully,” Link murmured. He looked at Zelda, who was avoiding looking at the body. “Let’s get out of here.” 

~~~~~~

They finally made it to the building. The entrance was blocked by a portion of street that had been overrun with water. 

“I think it’s shallow on the right side,” Mipha said. She waded into the mossy water. 

“I’m glad Impa hired you guys,” Zelda said as they walked through the water. 

“What do you mean?” Mipha asked. 

“Look, I know you guys are getting paid for this but….” Zelda paused. “I guess I’m trying to say thank you.” There was a beat of silence before Link responded. 

“No problem, princess.” He smirked. 

“I’m not…” Zelda began to say, sighing instead. “Whatever.” 

They exited the water and climbed up the steps of the Capitol Building. Mipha was almost running at this point. She pushed the doors open. 

“No…” He heard her gasp. Link looked over her shoulder. There were bodies everywhere. Bodies of Sheikah soldiers. 

“Shit,” Link cursed. 

“No, no, no!” Mipha cried. She ran over to one of the bodies and began searching for something. 

“Mipha, what are you doing?” 

“Looking for something about where she was going to be taken.”

“What? Are you insane? How far are we going to take this?”

“As far as it needs to go!” Mipha yelled back. She looked up at Zelda, who was looking at the scene in shock. “Did Impa tell you where this lab was?” 

“N-no. She only said it was somewhere out west.” Zelda’s voice was small. 

“What are we doing, Mipha? This isn’t us,” Link watched as she stood. He had never seen Mipha like this. 

“What do you know about us?” She snapped. “About me?” 

“I know you’re smarter than this, smarter than-” 

“Link, we’ve been shitty people for a long time, this is our chance-” 

“We are survivors!” 

“This is our chance!” 

“It’s over, Mipha!” Link shouted. The room went silent. “We tried. Now we go home.” 

“I’m…” Mipha looked away for a moment. “I’m not going anywhere. This is my last stop.” 

“What?” Link looked at her, annoyed. 

“Our luck had to run out, sooner or later.” Mipha turned around. Link reached out to put a hand on her shoulder.

“What are you going on-” 

“Don’t!” Mipha shouted, pushing his hand away. “Don’t fucking touch me.” 

The tension in the room was suffocating. Link was no longer annoyed, but confused. Fear spread in his chest, coating his lungs.

“She’s bit,” Zelda murmured. It was barely audible. Link looked at Mipha. 

“Link, I-” 

“Show me,” He said, his voice breaking. Mipha pulled down her collar. There it was. It was red and inflamed. It was oozing pus. 

“Christ…” Link felt like he’d been shot in the chest. He stepped back, in shock. 

“Oops, right?” Mipha looked at Zelda. “Give me your arm.” 

“What?” Zelda barely had any time to react before Mipha was pulling her sleeve up. The bite was clean and scabbed over. There was no swelling and no pus.

“This was  _ three weeks _ !” Mipha exclaimed. “I was bitten an hour ago, and it’s already worse.” 

“Mipha-” 

“This is fucking real, Link! You gotta get this girl to Revali. He knows where they are. He’ll know what to do.” 

“That was your crusade, not mine!” Link shot back. “I am not doing that!” 

“Yes you are!” Mipha begged. “Link, there must be something here, something between us that makes you feel some sort of obligation to me.” 

“Mipha-” Link was cut off by the sound of an engine outside. It was the military. “Shit.” 

“They’re here. I can buy you some time but you have to run.” 

“What?” Zelda cut in. “You want us to just leave you here?” 

“Yes.” Mipha drew her gun. 

“No way. Not happening,” Link felt his heart wrench. “I won’t let-” 

“I will not turn into one of those things,” Her voice was final. Link just looked on in horror. “Come on, make this easy for me.” 

“I can fight-” 

“No!” Mipha pushed him away. “Just go!” 

The two stared at each other for a moment. There was so much Link wanted to say. 

“Mipha-” 

“Just fucking go.” 

Link felt a hand on his wrist. It was Zelda, pulling him away. Link felt her drag him a few steps back before he cooperated with her, running out the room. They ran into the next room. He got one last look at Mipha before sealing the door shut. 

“Holy shit,” Link mumbled. He felt sick. After he left Revali, Mipha had been the only person he trusted for the last ten years. She was like a mother to him. 

“Come on, we need to go,” Zelda said, pulling him out of his thoughts. “Focus.” 

Link simply nodded and pulled out his gun. The two moved up a nearby staircase. Link tried to stay focused as he began hearing gunfire. He heard a scream and the gunfire stopped. His stomach lurched. 

_ Just keep moving. You can mourn when she’s with Revali.  _

“Come on,” Link said. They went through a door and on a veranda overlooking the scene of the shootout. 

“Mipha…” Zelda gasped. Link looked down and saw her lifeless body. 

_ Keep moving. _

Link moved as fast as he could without making noise. He didn’t want to be in that room any longer. They went through an opening on the left. He spotted a corpse with an old hunting rifle. He moved over to it and picked it up. 

“Nice,” He mumbled to himself. He put it on his back and kept moving. He was about to walk forwards when Zelda pulled him down. 

“Up ahead,” She whispered. Link heard voices. They quickly ran behind cover. Link pulled out his new rifle. He made sure it was loaded before peeking over. It was two soldiers. He silently took aim and fired one of the guards. The bullet broke through his helmet, entering his skull. Before the other guard could react, Link did the same with him. They both dropped to the ground, dispatched. 

“Alright, let’s push forwards,” Link said. Zelda nodded as he moved up. They moved to the staircase, which had rotted away. They jumped down. Link spotted an open door, leading to the outside. 

“There’s our way out,” Zelda whispered. They slowly moved forwards. There were guards ahead. Link took cover on a wall. There were too many to take head on. They’d have to sneak past them. He looked around for something he could throw. He spotted a brick. He picked it up. 

“Alright, here’s the plan. We sneak to the end of the hall. Once we’re there, I’m gonna distract them and we’re going to sprint outside,” Link explained. Zelda nodded along. He looked down the hall. The soldiers weren’t looking down the hall. He sprinted to a crate farther down the hall. He looked into the next room. It must’ve been under construction, because there were boxes everywhere. Link moved to cover behind the boxes. 

They were so close to the exit. Two soldiers were guarding it. Link grabbed his brick and chucked it as far as possible to the other corner of the room. 

“What was that?” One of the men said. They both walked over to go investigate. Link and Zelda took the opportunity to sneak out the door. Once they were outside, Zelda spoke. 

“Look, we can hide in there!” She whisper-yelled. It was a subway entrance. They ran into the stairwell. Link heard gunshots behind him. 

“Shit, run!” he shouted. The pair ran as fast as they could, deep into the subway system. Link noticed the air getting dense with spores. He stopped and pulled on his mask. He looked around for Zelda, but couldn’t find her. He turned his flashlight on. It didn’t create much visibility, but it was better. He felt a hand grab his. 

“Link?” He heard Zelda say. He turned to his left. She wasn’t wearing a mask. She was freely breathing in all the spores in the room. 

“How the hell are you breathing in this stuff?” He asked, in awe. Zelda brow furrowed. 

“I’m not lying to you.” 

_ Holy shit _ , Link thought. She’s immune. She’s truly immune. He couldn’t think about that right now. 

“We need to keep moving,” He said after a pause. “Come on.” 

The two moved through the sewers with little problems. They came across a tunnel that had been flooded with water. Link jumped in with little hesitation. He began swimming through the water. When he didn’t hear a second splash, he turned around. Zelda was looking at the water. 

“Zelda?” He called back, his voice muffled by the mask he wore. “There aren’t any sharks…” 

“What?” Zelda looked at him. “No I...I just don’t like water.” 

“Can you swim?” Zelda simply shrugged. 

“Sort of,” She said. She paused for a moment before jumping in. It took a second for her to surface. When she did, she latched on to a derailed subway car. 

“Sort of?” Link asked. She turned to look at him. 

“I’ll be fine, we just need to hurry,” She pushed herself off the wall and moved in his direction. Link let her go in front of him. He wasn’t confident in her swimming abilities. They finally reached shallower areas. They walked the rest of the way to a subway wall they could climb up on. From there, they made their way out of the spore infested subway. 

The sunlight was blinding at first. It looked to be about 9AM. 

“Fucking Christ,” Link coughed as he ripped his gas mask off. He walked over to a pile of tires and sat down, putting his head in his hands. 

“Link, I-” 

“Don’t,” Link quickly said. “Listen, here’s how this is gonna play out. You don’t bring Mipha up. Ever. We can just go ahead and keep our histories to ourselves. Secondly, you don't bring up your...condition to anyone. They’ll either think you’re crazy or try to kill you. Lastly, you do what I say, when I say it, we clear?” 

“Okay,” Zelda looked down. 

“Repeat it back,” Zelda simply glared at him. 

“What you say, goes,” She said, staring him down. Link sighed.  _ Good enough. _

Link stood and looked north. 

“There’s a town north of here. I know a guy there, Daruk, who owes me a few favors. He should be able to get us a car,” Link looked ahead. He had seen Daruk driving a car around when they met up for drop-offs. If he can keep his own car fixed up, he should be able to fix up one for them. They could get there by midday. Once they were there, they could rest for a bit before driving to Revali’s. Revali lived in Tabantha, which was way too far to walk. 

“Alright, let’s get moving.”


	5. Tarrey Town

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> don't you love when ur wifi dies so you cant post :)))))))
> 
> cuz i dont

The walk to Tarrey Town was in silence. After coming out of the subway, Zelda hadn’t said a word. Link wasn’t quite sure how to feel about it. It was nice in a sense that he got some quiet time, but after the events at the Capitol building, he wasn’t sure quiet is what he needed. 

A few hours of walking led them to a small hill overlooking the town. Link stopped and looked for a second. He saw a plume of smoke in the distance. 

“Is that him?” He heard Zelda say. She was right next to him. He looked at her. The sunlight was catching her eyes in the most spectacular way. 

“Hopefully,” Link said, quickly looking away. The road they had been following was winding. They could take a detour through the woods ahead of them and save some time. “Come on. We can cut through here, save a few minutes.” 

Link hopped over the railing separating the woods from the road. Zelda quickly followed. He listened out for any infected, but didn’t hear anything. He kept walking. 

“Woah,” He heard Zelda murmur. He turned to look at her. She was looking around the area, a look of fascination on her face. 

“What?” Link asked, stopping. 

“Nothing, I just...I’ve never seen anything like this before…” 

“What, the woods?” 

“Yeah…It’s kinda cool…” Link took in the atmosphere. The woods had always been a special place for him. 

“You’ve never walked through the woods before?” Link asked, turning to look at her. She shook her head. 

“Not that I can remember. I grew up in the zone, never went outside of it.” Zelda walked over to a tree. She grabbed a branch on a tree. “ _Amelanchier…”_

“What?” Link raised a brow. He walked over to her, looking over her shoulder. The branch had dark purple berries on it. 

“ _Amelanchier,_ or a Juneberry. They’re native to this area. They’re characterized by the smooth grey bark and the longitudinal fissures, although they’re only found on older trees,” Zelda pulled a berry off the tree. 

“Zelda, you can’t just eat random-” Before he could finish his sentence, Zelda had already eaten it. “Oh my god.” 

“What? I know it’s safe,” She smiled. She ate another. She ripped the branch off. “I’ll be shocked if a berry is what kills me.” 

“I….” Link sighed. Zelda handed him a branch. Link was tempted to take one, but didn’t. “Let’s just go.” 

Zelda shrugged and kept walking. Link took one last look at the tree before following. 

“So,” Zelda asked, wiping berry juice off her face. “Why don’t you just take me back to Impa?” 

“If she was up to the task, why’d she drop you off on us?” Link responded, catching up. 

“Maybe she’s better now?” 

“I don’t mean to upset you, but your friend’s chances of survival weren’t too high to begin with.” 

“She’s a lot stronger than you think.” 

“It doesn’t matter. Besides, I doubt I could get either of us back into the city in one piece.” Link sighed. “Trust me, I wish there were another way.” 

~~~~~~

The town was easy enough to get into, but finding Daruk was another story. The plume of smoke was all the way across town, and Link was certain there were going to be infected roaming the place. 

It was a quaint little town. It looked like it would’ve been a nice place to live before the infection. Now, it just looked like any other ghost town. Shop windows broken, cars rusted and abandoned, and the occasional downed street light. 

“So let’s say we get a car from this friend of yours. What next?” Zelda asked. She was picking the leaves off the now empty branch. 

“Then we go find Revali,” Link said.

“Impa said he was your brother?” 

“Of sorts. We grew up together. He’s not blood, but we’re so close we might as well be.” His and Revali’s parents were close. Before the infection, they were always at each other’s houses fucking around. After, they were almost inseparable. Almost. 

“And he’s a Sheikah?” 

“He was. He’d know where to take you. He lives far from here, which is why we need the car.” 

Link kept walking, keeping an eye out for any signs of life. Hopefully they could find Daruk quickly. He didn’t like the feeling of this town. It was too quiet. 

He was spacing out when he heard a scream. He looked at the source and saw a Runner dart towards him. He pulled out his gun and was about to shoot when an explosion went off, blowing the Runner to pieces. 

“What the fuck?” Link shouted, stepping back. Zelda looked closer. 

“It’s a tripwire,” Zelda commented. “We need to keep our eyes open.” 

“Fucking Daruk,” Link cursed.

They walked forward, this time more cautiously. There were wires everywhere. 

“This Daruk guy,” Zelda said after ducking under a wire. “He seems a little paranoid.” 

“He’s not the most stable of individuals,” Link frowned. “But he’s smart as shit.” 

“Dangerous combination,” Zelda smiled grimly. “Hey, check this out.” 

Link turned to look at her. She had spotted a garage. There was a small window that was boarded up, but through the cracks, you could see light flickering inside. Link moved to the door of the garage. As soon as he pulled it open, he felt something tight around his foot. Before he could see what it was, he felt his world shift. He heard Zelda call out his name. 

Link felt all of the blood in his body rush to his head. He was upside down. The garage was empty at the moment, but he didn’t trust it. 

“Link, are you okay?” He heard Zelda say. He tried to nod, but failed. 

“I’m fine, just get me down,” He groaned. His head was starting to hurt. 

“Okay,” She said. She disappeared from his sight. He heard a loud screeching sound and a clang. 

“Zelda?” He called out, trying to twist his body to see her. 

“Your friend is…” Zelda began, frustration apparent in her voice. “He better get us a car.” 

He heard the scream of a runner. 

“Hurry!” Link shouted. He couldn’t see the creature, but it had to be nearby. 

“Almost there!” Zelda shouted back. He heard a snap as he fell to the ground. He landed on his back, the wind knocked out of him. He was about to get up when a Runner appeared on top of him. He instinctively put his hands up, trying to push the creature off of him. HE heard a crunch as the creature went limp. 

“Holy crap, that was close,” Zelda sighed, out of breath. She offered him his hand. “Are you okay?” 

“Yeah, I’m fine,” Link grabbed her hand. She pulled him up. “Nice one.” 

“Thanks.” 

Link looked around the room. It looked like a hideout. His blood ran cold as he looked down at the Runner Zelda just killed. 

“Goddamnitt,” He cursed as he recognized the face. It was ashen and covered in blood, but he’d recognize Daruk anywhere. 

“Please tell me that’s not him,” Zelda looked at the corpse, saddened. 

“That’s him…” Link looked away. He wasn’t sad about his death, more at the fact that they were now shit outta luck. 

“Crap…” Zelda sighed, leaning against a wall. “I’m sorry, I didn’t know it was…”

“It’s fine. Let’s just find his car and get outta here.”

~~~~~~~~~~

“Hey, Link, look at this.” 

Link was resting his eyes on a couch in the garage. He was preparing for the drive to Tabantha. It would be a long one, and he wanted to rest beforehand. He opened one of his eyes to see Zelda holding a basket. 

“What’s that?” He said, his voice groggy. 

“Juneberries. Turns out I was right,” She smirked. “Your friend has a whole bunch of them in baskets.” 

Link held his hand out. Zelda walked over and gave him a few. He popped them in his mouth. They were really good, like a mix of cherries and blueberries. 

“Nice find, Princess,” He closed his eyes, still groggy. 

“Why do you call me that?” Zelda asked. 

“Call you what?” 

“Princess,” Link just shrugged. He didn’t really know. It just felt right. From what he knew about her, she reminded him of one of the stories his mother used to tell him. 

“Have you ever heard of the story of Rapunzel?” 

“No.” 

“Really? Well, it’s this girl who was trapped in a tower. She was trapped in the tower by an evil woman. She spent her days reading and collecting knowledge. Eventually she got out of the tower, but I can’t remember how,” Link told her. It had been years since he’d thought about the story. 

“She was trapped? That sounds awful! I thought you could go anywhere you wanted in the old days.” 

“No, it’s a fairytale,” Link said. “It’s not real.” 

“Fairytale….” Zelda thought. “I’ve never read any, I guess.” 

“How have you never read any fairy tales?” Link looked at her, she was staring at her basket. 

“I spent my time reading useful things.” 

“Fairytales are useful,” Link scoffed. “They’re supposed to teach you things, like...morals.” 

“Like not to kill people?” Zelda raised a brow. “That doesn’t seem like a good moral to have right now.” 

“Killing people _is_ bad, Princess,” Link sat up. She was staring at a branch of berries. 

“Of course it is, but that doesn’t stop you.” 

_Well, those are the bad guys,_ Link wanted to say. _They would kill us without a second thought._

“It’s either them or us,” Link decided on. It was true, but it still felt like a cheap justification. 

“It shouldn’t have to be,” Zelda looked up at him. “What happened to people?” 

“The will to survive.” 

“But if we all worked together, we could be better. We could have a functioning society with cars and music and fairytales.” Link couldn’t help but laugh. 

“Life isn’t a fairytale.” 

“I know, but….I guess it doesn’t do any good to dwell on the “what-ifs”of life….”

“The world is shit. Sooner you realize that, the easier it gets.” 

“The easier what gets?” Zelda looked up at him. 

“Surviving.” 

~~~

Daruk had a nice blue pickup truck. It wasn’t in the best condition, but it’d have to do. While Link rested, Zelda filled their bags with whatever useful thing she could. She had grabbed food, medicine, and lots of ammo. 

Link was driving along the freeway. He had only driven a few times in his life, but since the roads were empty, it was easy. Zelda was in the passenger’s seat. He had told her to get some rest. He stole a glance at her. 

There she was. She had a sort of angelic peacefulness to her as she slept. He started thinking about their conversation from earlier. To grow up completely sheltered from the outside world. It sounded like a blessing at first, to not know the dangers of the Yiga and other groups roaming around, but maybe it wasn’t? 

On one hand, Link grew up fighting for his life. Killing people wasn’t something he lost sleep over. He couldn’t even remember the first time he killed someone, not that he wanted to. He had lost count over how many people he had killed. He didn’t like doing it, but if need be, he wouldn’t hesitate. 

On the other hand, Zelda grew up not necessarily ignorant to the dangers of others, but just….unaware. To be blissfully unaware of the cruelties of humans wasn’t a blessing. To not have already made that decision of survival of the fittest was just...alien to him. 

He looked back at the road. He saw a broken sign. 

_242 miles to Hateno_

They were in for a long trip. 

~~~~

They had finally reached Hateno. Zelda had woken up a few minutes ago. She was staring out the window, watching the scenery. It was a few hours from sunset. 

She hadn’t said anything since she woke up. Link had murmured a “good afternoon” to her, but nothing else. 

Up ahead, the road was blocked by multiple cars. 

“Shit,” Link cursed. 

“Do we walk?” Zelda asked, looking at the roadblock. 

“No…” Link mumbled. This was suspicious as shit. There was an open exit they could take, leading them into the city. Link thought for a moment before hanging right and taking the exit. 

The city of Hateno was a large one. He had come here once before the infection, but he didn’t remember it that well. 

They were driving down a street when a man jumped out in the road, clutching his stomach. 

“Help!” Link heard him call out. _Shit._

“Are we gonna help him?” Zelda asked, sitting up. 

“Hold on tight,” Link ordered. He slammed his foot on the gas pedal and drove forwards. The man cursed and pulled out a gun. He got a few shots off before the front of the truck slammed into him. Link kept driving as more men with guns appeared. 

“Link!” He heard Zelda scream. He looked over and saw a bus flying down a hill. It felt like time had slowed to a crawl as the bus made impact. 

The wheels of the truck spun out. He desperately tried to regain control, but he couldn’t. They crashed into a building. Link’s head hit the wheel and everything went dark.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> my apologies, daruk stans :(
> 
> Leave some kudos or a comment with what you liked!! <3


	6. Hateno

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> thank you for all the love and 200 READS?!?! guys i'm honored <3

“Link….Link!” 

Link slowly awoke, dizzy. 

Hateno. Bus. Crash. 

Adrenaline filled him as he looked around. He first looked for Zelda. Once he saw her, he quickly made sure she was okay. Glass shards covered her hair. She had a small cut on her cheek. She was a little shaken but she was alive. He saw a dark figure behind her. He grabbed his gun and shot at it before he could get any closer. He felt someone grab his hands and pull him back. 

Link was dragged out of the car. His head was spinning. He felt arms around his neck. He reached into his pocket and grabbed his knife. He reached around and slashed into the guys stomach. The man let go. Link spun around and stabbed him in the throat. He heard Zelda scream out. He looked over to see Zelda being grabbed by some fuckface. Link quickly rushed over and punched him, knocking him to the ground. He grabbed him and slammed his head into some bricks 

“Thanks,” Zelda choked out. She was holding her throat. Link walked over to the truck and grabbed their bags. 

“Catch your breath,” He tossed her backpack to her. “We need to get out of here.” 

Zelda caught her bag and slung it around her back. Link grabbed his bag. He immediately ducked as he heard a bullet whiz past him. He pulled Zelda behind cover and pulled out his gun. He peeked out and quickly fired a single shot, catching the man who shot at them in the chest. The man fell. He saw a group of reinforcements. He ducked once more. There were a lot of them. If he could get them to split up, he could take them. 

“Okay, here’s the plan. You stay here, and I’m going to sneak around and clear a path,” Link whispered. Zelda nodded. Link quickly moved to crouch behind a counter. There were four guys roaming around. If he snuck around the store, he could try and take them out one by one. 

He hated using his hands. Shooting someone was so impersonal, but sneaking up behind someone and stabbing them in the neck, or worse,  _ snapping  _ their neck, was so personal. It was the only time he ever hesitated when killing. 

Link heard glass crunching on the ground as a man approached. He pulled his knife out and prepared himself. As soon as he saw the man, he jumped up and slid the knife into the man's throat and pulled him down. He heard some grotesque gurgling noises as the man slowly died. 

He looked away as he searched for the next guard. There was one guard in the front of the shop and another two outside the shop. He decided to head for the front. The guard was positioned at the door, looking outside. 

_ Not the smartest in the bunch, _ Link thought as he took the guy down. 

“There he is!” He heard one of the men shout. He ducked behind a wall as shots were fired at him. He pulled out his gun and fired back. He felt a sharp sting on his shoulder as he ducked back behind cover. He peeked out again and fired more shots. He heard a thud as one man fell to the ground. He heard the other man curse. He heard a bullet whiz above him. 

Link peeked out once more and placed a bullet between the man’s eyes. He listened out for more people before standing. 

“Alright, I think that’s the last of them,” Link called out. He saw Zelda peek out from her hiding spot. She hurried over. “You okay?” 

“Yeah, I’m fine,” Zelda said. Her hair still had a fine layer of glass on it. Her cheek had stopped bleeding. 

“Good. We need to get outta here,” Link put his gun away. He looked around. The way they had come was blocked by the bus that rammed into them. There was a garage they could cut through. Cutting through there would allow them to get off the streets and into cover. 

Link walked over to the doors. He tested whether he could lift it or not. It turned out he could, but he knew he wouldn’t be able to hold it open for long. He called Zelda over and told her to climb under. Once she was under the garage, he heard a gasp. 

“Zelda?” He called out, somewhat worried. His grip was slipping. 

“Um...there’s some pretty gnarly stuff in here…” Her voice was almost inaudible. He heard some chains and the weight of the door was lifted from him. He quickly crawled under and lowered the door. He wiped some of the grime off his hands. When he turned around, he realized why she had frozen. 

There were bodies on the table. One looked like it had starved to death while the other was mutilated beyond recognition. 

“Fucking Yiga…” Link muttered. “See, this could’ve been us.” 

“Yiga?” 

“Yeah, the Yiga Clan. It’s a group of bandits, basically. They took over the quarantine zones, killed all the soldiers, and turned the area into a tourist trap.” 

“Oh…” Zelda whispered. Link noticed how her brows were drawn together, contemplating the situation. 

“Man,” She sighed as she moved over to a pile of shoes. The pile was half her height. “That’s a lot of people who didn’t make it.” 

“I knew I should’ve turned the damn truck around,” Link looked at Zelda as she grabbed one of the shoes, pursing her lips. The shoe was on the smaller side. She set the shoe down after a moment. 

“Let’s get out of here.” 

~~~~~~~

Link and Zelda were climbing over the rooftops of Hateno. Luckily, most of the guard patrols were on the ground. Ever since the garage, Zelda had been pretty quiet. He could understand. The Yiga Clan were pretty ruthless. They killed anyone and everyone they saw. The pile of shoes was a particularly jarring sight, even to Link. 

The sound of a truck brought Link out of his thoughts. He motioned for Zelda to get down. He crouched behind an old air conditioning unit. He heard yelling down below. He noticed Zelda peek out. Curiosity got the better of him. 

Down in the streets below was a large Humvee. There was a man working a turret on the top. There were two people, a man and a woman running from it. The turret quickly took them both down. The man was instantly killed, but the woman wasn’t dead yet. She was crawling, begging for her life. One of the Yiga got out of the car and shot her in the head. He started searching her corpse, but appeared to find nothing. He got back in the car and they drove off. 

As soon as they were out of sight, Zelda stood, looking at the scene. 

“There was nothing we could’ve done,” Link said. He wasn’t sure who he was saying it to, Zelda or himself. 

“I know,” She said. She had an odd expression on her face. It was like a mixture of thinking and finality. 

“Zelda…” 

“What?” Link hesitated before continuing. She stopped walking, looking at him. 

“Nothing, let’s just go,” Link said. He pointed to a golden bridge around a mile from them. “See that bridge? That’s our way outta here.” 

They were on the roof of a hotel. They couldn’t go across the rooftops anymore, as the other buildings were too far to jump to. Link spotted a door. With a little effort, he was able to pull it open. 

“Let’s go through here and get to the ground,” Link told Zelda. She nodded and went through the doorway. Link followed and turned his flashlight on. The stairwell was dark and abandoned. The stairs creaked under their feet. 

“How’d you know?” Zelda questioned after a few moments of silence. 

“Know what?” 

“About the ambush,” Link looked down. 

“I’ve been on both sides, Princess,” He said. 

“Oh…” Zelda suddenly became very interested in the metal stairs. “So, ah, you’ve killed a lot of innocent people?” Link almost choked at the question. 

_ Had he?  _ He wasn’t sure what counted as innocent these days. The people driving around the Humvee weren’t innocent, he knew that. Did that make the couple running from them innocent? The two of them were running from the Humvee, and while Zelda was as innocent as they came, he was certainly not. 

“I’ll take your silence as a yes,” Zelda said once he didn’t answer. 

He didn’t want to flat out lie to her, but he didn’t want to straight up say “ _ hah, yeah I kill innocent people! It’s my favorite pastime!”  _

“You can take that however you please,” Link chose his words carefully. Zelda gave a small laugh. 

“You act as if killing is suddenly a bad thing to you.” 

Link’s walking faltered for a second. The words she said had sliced right through him. Did she think he was a mindless killer? Did she think less of him because he had killed?  _ Why did he care? _

Link kept walking, trying to shrug her words off. They reached the end of the stairwell. The rest of the stairs were blocked by warped metal and remnants of the wall. The only way out was through the door leading to the rest of the floor. 

As Link opened the door, he heard distant voices. 

“Did you hear about those tourists from last night?” He heard a man say.

“Yeah, most of them went down pretty easy, but this one bitch gave us a good chase.” 

“You were there? Ah, that’s so sick.”

“It was pretty sweet. She almost got away, too. We had given up when she started shooting at us, trying to avenge her buddies or something.” 

“Dumbass.” 

Link blocked out their voices as he kept moving. Zelda was on his tail. They made their way through the halls. The voices must be coming from the floor below them, as there was no one on the floor that they were on. 

Eventually, they came to an elevator shaft. Link pried the doors open. There was a ladder inside. Link tested it, making sure it wouldn’t break. 

“Alright, Princess. After you.” 

Zelda quickly climbed the ladder. Once she was up, Link followed. It led to a small gap between elevators. Link jumped down onto one of the elevators. It groaned underneath him. There was a ledge leading out the shaft.

“Can you boost me?” Zelda asked. Link nodded. He held out his knee for her to step onto. She climbed up. As she did, Link heard a loud snapping sound. Link was about to grab onto the ledge when he felt the elevator drop. Before he could do anything, he was falling through the air. 

“Fuck!” He shouted. Pain radiated through him as he hit the elevator. He bounced off and plummeted into the water below. 

He quickly surfaced, gasping for air. 

“Link? Link!” 

“I’m okay!” He yelled back. He looked up to see Zelda a few dozen feet above him. “Are you?”

“No! You scared the crap outta me!” Zelda sounded panicked. The area around him was dark. “I’m coming down!”

“No!” Link quickly said. “Just stay there, I’ll come to you!” 

“Alright, just don’t do anything stupid!” Link looked around in the darkness and mumbled to himself. 

“I’ll try.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> leave a comment with what you liked!! <3


	7. The Great Ton Pu Inn

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> oh my goodness, I'm so sorry for not updating, i got sick! please forgive me 

Link turned his flashlight on and looked around. It looked like he was trapped in the flooded elevator shaft. There was no way for him to climb up to her. There was an open elevator door he could go into. He swam through the doorway. 

The floor was completely flooded. It looked like an old service floor, not a floor with rooms for guests. He kept swimming until the water eventually became shallow. The way forward was blocked by a gate, so he instead went through a door to the side of it. 

The door led to a stairwell. The stairwell was filled with old furniture. His only option was to go down by diving into the water. He took a deep breath and went under. He was able to go down three levels before the stairs ended. He saw a sign next to a door that read “ _ B2. _ ” 

Link went through the door. Luckily in this room was a large opening in the ceiling, allowing him to surface. He took a deep breath in as he pulled himself out of the water. Up ahead, he saw particles floating in the air.

“Spores,” he mumbled, putting on his gas mask. He pulled his gun out, ready to take down any infected he saw. 

Link walked around the floor. In one room he saw a generator. He considered powering it on, but he didn’t know what it controlled and the noise would most definitely draw any infected roaming around towards him. He kept moving. He came to a door. When he tried to open it, a red light flashed. It was a keycard reader. 

“Fuck,” He grumbled. He went back the way he came. There were various rooms branching off the hall. If he got lucky, maybe there was a key card in one of them. 

He looked through bathrooms, storage rooms, and even in the room the generator was in, but found nothing. The last room he searched was an old closet. He had to use his knife to pry the door open, but what was inside was worth it. He found a goldmine of ammo, food, and most importantly, the keycard. He grabbed as much as he could and walked back to the door.

When he tried the keycard, nothing happened. He tried again, but the red light just stared back at him. 

_ There must not be any power…. _

Link hesitated before making his way to the generator. The room was flooded with water, but he could get to the generator. He pulled on the cable to start it. It made a shitton of noise. He could already hear the cries of the infected. He quickly powered it on and made a mad dash for the door. 

As he ran, he could hear the footsteps behind him. Once he got to the door, he quickly slid the keycard through the machine and busted the door open. As he turned to close it, he saw a large horde of infected staring back at him. He slammed the door shut. 

“That was way too close,” He said to himself as he looked at the room he was in. It was another stairwell. He started climbing the stairs. He noticed the absence of spores, so he took his mask off. He longed for fresh air. The air in the stairwell was moldy and moist. He wanted pure air, the type you get in the forest. 

Link made it to the top of the stairs. He opened the door to reveal himself in a kitchen. He was about to step forward when he heard a gunshot and the scream of a clicker. He quickly got down behind an old counter. 

“Did you get it?” He heard a man say.

“Yeah. I think that’s the last one. Let’s do a sweep, make sure.” 

_ Yiga…. _

Link pulled out his knife as he peeked over the counter. There were only two of them. He could easily take them with his gun, especially after finding all that ammo. He traded his knife for his gun and aimed for the closest guy’s head. He took a deep breath before firing. 

The bullet landed in the back of the man’s head. His buddy quickly turned around, gun drawn. Before he could shoot, Link ended his life. 

He kept his gun out, in fear that there could be more. He walked through the kitchen and out into a large dining room. The room was fancy, with a piano and a glass chandelier. The floor was worn, with puddles all across it. He walked around the puddles. He wanted his clothes to dry sooner than later. He spotted a ladder at the west side of the room. He put his gun away and climbed up. 

Once he got to the top he saw a man standing there. Before he could react, the man’s boot was on his face, sending him plummeting off the ladder. He landed in a puddle of water. His gun had fallen off his waistband, into the water. The man who kicked him down landed in the water. He grabbed Link’s head and pushed him underwater. 

While he was under, Link spotted his gun. He tried to reach for it, but the man pinned his hands behind his back. His vision began to get dark. This was it. Holy shit, this was it. He saw a hand in the water and heard a muffled bang. The man holding him went limp. Link surfaced, coughing up the water in his lungs. He looked at the man who had saved him. 

It wasn’t a man.

It was Zelda, holding the barrel of a smoking gun. As soon as she saw him look at her, she pointed it away from him. 

“Oh man,” she sighed. “I shot the crap outta him.”

“What the hell?” Link grabbed his gun from her. “I told you to stay put.”

“I bet you're glad I didn’t, right?” Zelda sat down on a crate nearby. She looked like she was going to be sick. 

Link looked at the body. He wanted to say he had it under control, but he knew he didn’t. He was beaten. 

“Come on, we need to get out of here,” Link finally said. Zelda looked up at Link. 

“I bet you're glad I didn’t,  _ right _ ?” Zelda repeated, using more emphasis. Link turned to her. Before he could stop himself, words were already leaving his mouth. 

“I’m glad I didn’t get my head blown off by a-”

“Excuse me, I just saved your life!” Zelda argued back. Her face was turning red. “It was you or him!”

“I had it under control!” Link shot back, the lie dripping out of his mouth. 

“We can talk about this later, come on,” Link looked around the room. There was a tense silence before he heard Zelda grumbling something. 

He should be thankful, she had saved his life, right? However, he couldn’t shake the weird feeling he had. Something about the situation made him uneasy.    
  
Link tried to clear his head and focus. He looked around the room and saw a defunct grand piano close to the ledge the Yiga member had kicked him off of.   
  
“Help me push this,” Link asked Zelda. He didn’t look at her, but he could feel her glaring at him.    
  
“So  _ now _ you want my help?” She muttered. Link rolled his eyes. Before he could snap back, she helped him push the piano against the wall. Link climbed up and then offered Zelda his hand. She ignored it and jumped up on her own. Link followed behind her. 

They were on the veranda above the dining hall, Zelda a few paces in front of him. After everything they had talked about, he felt like it was his role to prevent her from dealing with the harsh realities of life, and not force her to do the things that kept him up at night. Killing Runners and other Infected was one thing, but living, breathing humans were different. Even after all he’s been through, his knife was slightly heavier when killing people. 

_ Why do I care?  _ Link thoughts caught him off guard. Why did he care? This was an escort job, nothing more. That’s all he was required to do. They didn’t need to be friends and he definitely was not required to teach her morals and guide her through life, so why was he? It wasn’t like he hated Zelda, he particularly liked her happy outlook on things and funny humor. He really enjoyed her company, sometimes, he forgot that this was just a job.    
  
Link was lost in thought when he almost bumped into Zelda. He looked in front of her and saw a balcony leading out to the street. On the street were Yiga on their patrols. He was formulating a plan when he spotted a jackpot.    
  
On an old staircase hideout was a sniper rifle. It was a perfect lookout point. He crouched and walked over to it and grabbed the rifle. It was pretty run down, but it looked like it could last a few more shots. Zelda was crouched next to him. 

_ You need to trust her. _ _   
_ _   
_ “Alright,” Link began, “Here’s the plan-” 

“I hide up here while you take those guys out, I get it,” Zelda grumbled. 

“No…” Link sighed. He showed her the rifle. “Have you ever shot a rifle?” 

“Once, at rats…” Zelda said, slowly moving to pick up the rifle.    
  
“Rats?” 

“With BB’s...” Link tried not to roll his eyes.    
  
“Well, it’s the same basic concept. Lift it up.” He said. Zelda lifted the rifle up. Link directed the stock to her shoulder. “Now, you’re gonna wanna lean into the stock, cause it’s gonna kickback a lot more than any BB rifle.” 

Zelda followed his instructions and pulled the bolt back, readying the shot. 

“Now, as soon as you fire a shot, you’re gonna wanna get another shot in there real quick,” Link said as Zelda looked at him. “Don’t use it unless you see me get into trouble down there, alright?”    
  
“Got it.” Zelda nodded, determined. Her eyes were steely, focused on her mission. Link nodded, trusting her. Link was about to leave the hideout when he looked back.    
  
“Just so we’re clear about back there,” Link looked back at Zelda one more time. “It was either him or me.”   
  
Before he could hear Zelda’s response, he jumped down to the stairs below. Whe crouch-walked down the stairs to the street below.    
  
Once he was on the street, he pulled out his gun and made sure it was loaded. After checking to ensure he had ammo ready to be used, he pulled out his knife.    
  


“They’re all dead!” Link heard a man shout. “They’re all fucking dead!” 

One of the Yiga on the street looked to a man who was running out of the hotel. 

“Calm down, use your words-”

“The whole crew is dead. All of them. Some fucking tourist killed them all.” The Yiga said. He was out of breath, clearly panicking. 

“Alright, have you talked to the boss?” The other asked, now also concerned. The panicked one nodded. 

“He wants everyone to hold their ground. Watch the gate.”    
  
“Alright, you heard him. Hold your ground, we’ll get this fucker!” 

Link surveyed the area. They were all grouped up so much. Stealth would be extremely difficult. If Zelda could land her shots, he could handle a firefight, but that was also risky. Link always preferred stealth. However, he  _ did  _ have the ammo….

Link crouched behind a car, staying out of site. If he could get around them, he could give Zelda some good shots. Behind the car he found a bottle filled with alcohol and a rag sticking out the top. 

_ Molotov,  _ Link thought.  _ Useful… _

They were still huddled together. It wasn’t all of them, but it was a good amount. Before he could overthink things, he lit the molotov. He tossed it directly at the group. 

Fire went everywhere. The Yiga began screaming, trying to brush the fire off of them. They started flailing around, yelling out obscenities. Link rushed into a nearby building. In his way was a single Yiga, who he quickly shot down. He was about to move forward when he heard a loud shot ring out and a man fall behind him. 

_ Thanks… _

He moved forward until he was in the Yiga’s backline. He pulled out his hunting rifle and began shooting at the Yiga in various locations. They were all focused on the molotov that went off, not him, so it was fairly easy. He took down three, one of which was holding a molotov, which exploded as he hit the ground. 

Zelda was also making things easier. It seemed like she had taken his advice of “make every shot count” to heart, as she was doing extremely well. The entire firefight took about five minutes before they were all downed. Once he was sure they were all down, Link called out to Zelda. 

“Alright,” He shouted up to her. “Come on down.”

He started going through the bodies that weren’t burned to a crisp, looking for anything they could use. One of the men had a nice handgun, in good condition. He looked at it for a moment before grabbing it. 

When he stood back up, Zelda was approaching him, holding the rifle.    
  
“How’d I do?” She asked. Link grabbed the rifle, nodding. 

“You did good, Princess,” Link said. He looked at the rifle, but it was pretty busted. He looked at Zelda before examining the gun in his hands. “How about somethin’...a little more your size?”

He handed the gun to Zelda who took it. She looked at it for a moment, hesitating. 

“I’m not gonna make you use it if you don’t want it,” He added, somewhat nervous about her silence. She looked up at him before turning the safety on and putting it in her waistline. 

“I’ve made my choice, just like you did,” She said. Link looked at her. They shared a moment of understanding before moving on.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> thank you so much for reading, i'll try to be more regular with my updates <3


	8. Escape

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> god, i suck at regular updates. 2020 really out here makin me lose track of time.....

“Run!” 

Link and Zelda were running through the city, moving as fast as possible. The Humvee that had killed the two people was currently hunting them down. Every once in a while they heard shots ring out from the turret. They turned into an alley, avoiding the shots

“What do we do?” Zelda asked, running alongside him. Link didn’t have an answer. At the end of the alley was a brick wall. They were trapped. They were going to be ripped to shreds by the stupid Yiga Clan and humanity was doomed. Link was about to say a quick prayer when Zelda grabbed his arm. 

She pulled him through a door, almost dragging him off his feet. The door slammed behind him. 

“Come on,” Zelda said. “Let’s block the door.” 

Link looked around and saw an old cart. He motioned over to it and together, the two moved it in front of the door. They heard the truck outside, but no more shots rang out. They weren’t in the clear, but they could breathe. 

“Good thinking, Princess,” Link sighed, wiping the sweat off his brow. He looked around the building they darted into, it was an old apartment. “Let’s move.” 

Link started moving through the apartment when he suddenly felt a sharp pain on his head. Someone had hit him. Before he could react, he was on the ground. He heard Zelda shout his name, but he was more focused on taking this fucker out. 

The man began punching him, but froze. Link took the opportunity to flip the table and pin him on the ground. He wasn’t wearing the usual hunter garb of all black and covered face, but that information didn’t matter right now. 

“Link! STOP!” 

Link froze mid-punch as he heard a gun cock. He looked up to see a kid holding a gun. 

Link slowly stood. “Easy son, just take it easy…” He held his hands up, surrendering. This man wasn’t a hunter, they didn’t keep kids around. 

“It’s all good Teb,” The man he was punching said. “These aren’t the bad guys.” 

Teb slowly lowered his gun. The man stood up, rubbing his shoulder. “Man, you hit  _ hard _ !” 

“Well, I was tryna kill you…” Link mumbled. 

“Yeah, well I thought you were one of them, too. But then I saw her,” he said, pointing at Zelda. “I’ve seen a shitton of Yiga, but never a female, especially not that young...The name’s Rhodes, this is Teb. I think she said your name was Link?”

“I’m Zelda,” Link turned to look at her.  _ Shut up, we can’t trust them. _

“How many are with you?” 

“They’re all dead.”

“Hey, we don’t know that,” Rhodes scolded the young boy. “There were a bunch of us. Someone had the brilliant idea of entering the city and looking for supplies...That damn truck split us up. Now it’s all about getting out of this shithole.” 

“We can help each other,” Zelda said, stepping forward. 

“Zelda,” Link hushed her. 

“Safety in numbers and all that!” She pointed out. 

“She’s right,” Rhodes agreed. “We could help each other. We got a hideout two buildings over. It’ll be safe to talk there.” 

Link thought for a moment. They were right, and based on what they had just gone through, that was the logical option. He nodded. 

“Lead the way.” 

~

The four began walking through the building. They made their way into what looked like a toy store. They were walking in silence when they heard the roar of an engine. 

“Shit,” Link said. “Get down!” 

They ducked behind cover as the truck passed the building outside. It idled for a few seconds before driving away. 

“That was close…” Zelda sighed. 

“Man, that fucking truck...it’s been following us since-” Rhodes stopped talking as he stood. “Teb, what are you doing?” 

Link looked over to see Teb holding a toy robot. 

“Nothing.” 

“Get rid of it.” Teb looked at the robot. 

“My backpack is practically empty-”

“What’s the rule?” 

“It weighs like nothing-”

“The  _ rule. _ ” Rhodes’ voice was stern. 

“We only take what we have to,” Teb frowned and put the toy back.

“Exactly, now let’s go.” Rhodes walked out of the room, Teb following. Link began to walk out when he heard the sound of shuffling bags. He turned around to see Zelda looking for something. 

“What is it?” 

“Nothing,” she replied. “I’ll be right out.” 

Link walked out of the room and waited outside the door. He had his suspicions, but would wait to confirm them. 

After a few seconds, Zelda walked out. She headed up to Teb and began talking with him. When he was sure Zelda wasn’t looking, he looked back into the room. Everything looked the same, except the blue robot was no longer there. 

~

“So, how old are you?” Zelda asked Teb. Link was walking in the back with Rhodes leading the way. 

“I’m fourteen.” 

“Oh, really?” Rhodes chuckled. 

“I mean- I’m practically fourteen…” Zelda smiled. 

“Happy early birthday, then,” Teb gave a small smile. 

“Thanks….”

“How much farther is this place?” Link asked. 

“It’s just down this hall,” Rhodes said, pointing to a door. Link looked around. 

“And you’re sure it’s safe?” 

“Only I have the key.” 

“Where’d you get the key?” 

“Off some Yiga. He won’t be missing it.” Rhodes smirked. He unlocked the door and let everyone in. 

“Hideout sweet hideout,” Teb said, setting his stuff down. Zelda placed her bag near his. “Are you hungry? Do you want some food?” 

“Sure,” Zelda grinned, following Teb over to a kitchenette. 

“How long have y’all been here?” Link asked. 

“Few days,” Rhodes answered, getting comfortable. He set his bag on a desk. “We found some blueberries. A whole stash. Want some?” 

“No.” 

“Come on man, we’re safe here.” 

“Why haven’t you left?” Link asked, watching as he checked his supplies. 

“Look out that window,” Rhodes pointed to a nearby window. Link looked out and saw a guard post, guarding the bridge he needed to cross. 

“During the day, those fuckers group up there. It’s a tight shift, but at night, it’s different. A skeleton crew. We can sneak past them, get out without making too much noise. After sunset, that’s our window.” 

“That could work,” Link said, pursing his lips. It would be easy, and the dark would be their friend. 

“It  _ will _ work,” Rhodes smirked, proud of his plan. He chuckled before looking over Link’s shoulder. “Wow…” 

Link turned to see what he was looking at. Teb and Zelda were laughing and trying to toss blueberries into their mouths to catch. 

“I haven’t seen that kid crack a smile in months….” Rhodes said. The two were sitting on a couch, smiling. Link softened a bit at the sight. “She doesn’t seem bothered by all of this.” 

Link looked away. Zelda’s laugh was infectious, and she was always lighthearted, no matter the situation. She was a great ally to have, and a truly good person. 

“So where were y’all heading?” Link said, changing the conversation. He didn’t like to dwell on his thoughts about Zelda. He knew he needed to confront the nagging in his brain, but now was not the time.

“I heard the Sheikah were based out west somewhere,” Rhodes said, pulling up a chair. Link sat across from him. “We’re gonna join up with them.” 

“Seems like a lot of people are putting their stock into the Sheikah these days,” Link mused. 

“Maybe there’s a reason for that.” 

“You don’t know where they are, and you’re gonna drag him all the way across the country to find them?”

“I tell you what,’ Rhodes scooted in closer, his voice growing sharp. “How about I worry about my brother and you worry about your girl.” 

“She’s not my-” Link began to say, but waved it off. “Easy, we’re looking for the Sheikah too.” 

Rhodes backed up, understanding. He looked at the ground before nodding. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a map. He pointed to a blue icon. 

“This is us, and this,” He pointed at a red circle. “Is an abandoned military radio station just outside the city. We’re gonna meet up with the group there tomorrow. You and your girl, or whatever she is to you, if you wanna join us, it goes down tonight.” 

Link thought for a moment. He usually liked to work alone, but that was out the window now. Plus, they knew more about finding the Sheikah than him, it could end this job faster. 

“Better get some rest then.” 

~

Link was fast asleep when someone shook his shoulder. He opened his eyes to see blue eyes staring right back at him. 

“Hey,” Zelda said. “It’s time.” 

Link stood and grabbed his stuff. He put his backpack on and checked his guns. Once he was ready, he walked over to Rhodes, who was staring out the window. Compared to earlier, there were hardly any people there. This would be simple. 

“You ready?” Rhodes asked. Link nodded. “Alright, everyone stay close.” 

The four walked out of the hideout and down a flight of stairs. They landed in a dark lobby. Already, Link heard the footsteps of Yiga in front of him. 

Rhodes crouched next to him. “Let’s take these guys out quietly. Zelda, stay with Teb while we go up.” 

Zelda nodded while Rhodes and Link advanced. Link grabbed his knife. They moved forward. There were two guys standing next to each other. They shared a look before moving on them, taking them out. 

Link was about to speak when he heard a gunshot. 

“Clicker!” A Yiga said.

“I hear it, but I don’t see it,” another said. They began shining a spotlight on the street next to the group, the exact street they needed to cross. Luckily, there were cars in the street they could hide behind. Link crouched behind an old police cruiser before beckoning the others to follow. They ducked behind cars, avoiding the spotlight. When Link finished crossing, he was close to the guard post. There were two on the ground looking for the clicker and one on the top using a sniper rifle. He heard Rhodes behind him. 

“Hey, if we shoot the sniper, then we can get those two and get out the gate. Easy.” Link said. Rhodes nodded. 

Link pulled out his hunting rifle and aimed. He waited a moment before shooting the sniper, landing an efficient headshot. The two on the ground began to panic, but Rhodes shot both of them, quickly dispatching them. 

“Nice shot,” Link said. 

“You too, now let's move.” 

The group rushed to the gate. Link and Rhodes began pushing it open when they heard a truck approach. Not just any truck,  _ the  _ truck.

“Fuck, hurry!” Rhodes shouted. They quickly opened the gate, got through, and latched it behind them. They started running down the street, but it was blocked. 

“Up there!” Zelda shouted, pointing at a ladder. Link moved over. 

“I’ll boost you up,” Link said. Rhodes hopped up first, then Teb. When Zelda went to hop up, the ladder broke. Rhodes caught her, but looked at the gate. They were almost through. He pulled Zelda up. 

“Come on, we gotta get him!” Zelda said to Rhodes, but he shook his head. 

“I’m sorry, man, but we gotta go!” He said before taking off, ignoring Zelda’s words. Link’s attention was drawn back to the gate. He pulled out his gun. He could buy Zelda some time at the very least. He was about to fire when he heard Zelda drop down. 

“What the fuck-”

“We stick together.” Zelda said, looking at him. She grabbed his hand and dragged him over to a garage door. Together, they lifted the door up and slid under, just as the door was riddled with bullets. 

“What the hell were you thinking back there?” Link scolded. 

“I’m not going to abandon you, you idiot!” Zelda retorted. “We’re in this together, now come on!”

They were in what looked like a ber, with pool tables. Link had to pull Zelda down as he saw a man looking for them. Link pulled out his knife and quickly stabbed him. They went through the bar when they found a door blocked by a cart. Link moved it out of the way and opened the door. They left the bar and were outside the barricade, looking at the bridge. Link was about to breathe when he heard the roar of the truck and the breaking of a gate. 

“Run!” 

He and Zelda took off in a sprint. They jumped over roadblock signs onto the bridge. The truck was firing at them close behind. Link felt a bullet graze his side, but the burn was blocked by adrenaline. He ducked between some overturned busses and cars. He was running when he heard Zelda scream. He looked ahead to see her almost fall off the bridge. The bridge had broken. They were trapped. He looked below to see the rushing river. 

“Fuck,” He cursed.  _ Why did she jump down?!  _ Now they were both going to die. 

“We have to jump!” Zelda said. 

“We won’t survive that fall, Zelda.” 

“Would you rather be shot?” Zelda grabbed his hand. “We’ll be fine.” 

Link looked at her. This was the end, wasn’t it? After everything he’s been though, this is what got him. He slowly nodded. 

Before he could do anything, Zelda was suddenly on him. Her lips were on his. 

His mind was racing at a million miles an hour. The truck was trying to push the buses out of the way, they were being shot at, the water below was rushing, and he was kissing Zelda. Her arms were around his neck. His hands were on her back. 

After what felt like eternity, Link pulled away and looked at her one last time, a look of understanding. 

Together, they jumped into the dark rapids below. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i appreciate all of the comments people have been leaving!!! thank you so much!!! <3

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading! <3


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